Cyprus Unemployment Rises to Record as Trade, Building Jobs Cut

Unemployment in Cyprus surged to a record in July amid job cuts in the trade and construction industries, the island’s statistical service said.

The number of jobless people registered at the country’s District Labor Offices jumped to a seasonally-adjusted 48,112 from 47,594 in June, according to a statement today on the Cyprus Statistical Service’s website. That’s the highest level since data collection started in 1994. Unemployment rose 32 percent from July last year, down from a 37 percent annual increase in June.

The Cypriot economy, the third-smallest in the 17-nation euro region last year, will contract a cumulative 13 percent in 2013 and 2014, the country’s international creditors said on July 31. Macroeconomic uncertainty and the magnitude of the country’s recession are key short-term risks to a 10 billion-euro ($13.3 billion) bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

Unemployment in the trade industry rose by 2,690 and the number of jobless construction workers increased by 1,558 amid a slump in demand for new real estate.

The statistics agency didn’t provide an unemployment rate for the month. Cyprus’s jobless rate was 11.8 percent in 2012 and 15.9 percent in the first quarter this year, according to the agency. The IMF predicts the level will peak at 16.9 percent in 2014.